41
THE trees,
like the longings of the earth,
stand a-tiptoe to peep at the heaven.
42
YOU smiled and talked to me of nothing
and I felt that for this I had been waiting long.
43
THE fish in the water is silent,
the animal on the earth is noisy,
the bird in the air is singing,
But Man has in him
the silence of the sea,
the noise of the earth
and the music of the air.
44
THE world rushes on
over the strings of the lingering heart
making the music of sadness.
45
HE has made his weapons his gods.
When his weapons win he is defeated himself.
46
GOD finds himself by creating.
47
SHADOW,
with her veil drawn,
follows Light in secret meekness,
with her silent steps of
love.
48
THE stars
are not afraid to appear like fireflies.
49
I THANK thee that I am none of the wheels of power
but I am one with the living creatures
that are crushed by it.
50
THE mind,
sharp but not broad,
sticks at every point
but does not move.
From: Stray Birds
By Rabindranath Tagore
[translated from Bengali to English by the author]
New York: The Macmillan Company, 1916